#1290SuperDukeR

One year and a handful of months ago I was returning from Spain with the knowledge that KTM had constructed something special; the 1290 Super Duke R. The SDR went on to claim MO’s 2014 Bike of the Year award, as well as similar accolades from competing publications. If you read my First Ride Review of the SDR, this story will sound familiar. In what seems like déjà vu, I’m returning from Spain with the knowledge that KTM has constructed something special; the 2015 1290 Super Adventure.

We took delivery of our KTM Super Duke R on March 26, 2014, and fought like rabbits for quite some time over whose garage it would reside in until its scheduled return. EiC Duke won, but being the benevolent despot he is, the wealth trickled down and around until the beautiful beast fell into my possession a few months ago. I haven’t complained about having it underfoot. As a matter of fact, the Super Duke might be the finest do-it-all motorcycle it’s ever been my pleasure to possess, living up to its award as MO’s Motorcycle of the Year.

In case you haven’t heard, we here at Motorcycle.com really like the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. I mean, we really like it. Its 1301cc V-Twin is beyond brutish, with a chassis more than capable of supporting that engine both in the canyons and the track. What’s more, its relatively upright ergos are plenty comfy for the daily commute to/from work, school, or a leisurely weekend cruise. So far, it has proved itself as king of the hill in the stacked Super Streetfighter category, as it beat out the BMW S1000R, Ducati Monster 1200S, Kawasaki Z1000 ABS and MV Agusta Brutale in part one of our Streetfighter Shootout. It backed its victory with another win, this time topping the S1000R (again) and nudging the Aprilia Tuono V4R APRC ABS off the top of the Streetfighter hill in part two of our Streetfighter Shootout. The bike’s so good, we named it our 2014 Motorcycle of the year.

KTM has been on a roll of late, with its 1290 Super Duke R and 1190 Adventure R collecting our MOBO awards for Motorcycle of the Year and Best on On- Off-Road/Adventure bikes. However let’s not forget the motorcycle that introduced the engine that begat these two award winners: the RC8 R.

The evolution of motorcycles continues its relentless pace in 2014, with new offerings in every segment that advance the state of the art. The list of nominations for our prestigious Motorcycle of the Year award stretched across many categories and a diverse range of prices. After much debate among our editors, we’ve whittled down the best of the best to determine which two motorcycles are most deserving of our honors. And the winners are…

By John Burns

In the track version of our Super Streetfighter Smackdown, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R won over the BMW S1000R by the narrowest of margins. Which is all well and good for the small percentage of riders who’ll actually take these bikes to the track. For the greater population, riding these motorcycles on the mean streets of America, the streetable personas of these two and the Ducati Monster 1200S and Kawasaki Z1000 ABS are far more important.

What we have in these five bikes: BMW S1000R, Ducati Monster 1200S, Kawasaki Z1000 ABS, KTM Super Duke R, MV Agusta Brutale 1090RR, is an assemblage of pretenders to the throne. What throne? The literbike streetfighter throne upon which Aprilia’s Tuono V4R APRC ABS has comfortably resided since its introduction in 2012. Truth is, two of these five have a real chance of dethroning  the reigning champ on-track, so once we’ve identified the most worthy contenders in this shootout, first and second place will get a chance to meet the Tuono on the field of battle.